The repair of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee necessitates a bone-tendon-bone graft. One bone end of the bone-tendon-bone graft is placed in a drilled hole in the femoral cortex, and the other bone end of the bone-tendon-bone graft is placed in a drilled hole in the interior tibial cortex. The bone portions of the graft are traditionally fixated to the bone with interference screws threadedly secured into the bone. Alternatively, the bone graft can be distally fixated by forming a shallow trough in the anterior tibial cortex so that sutures may secure the graft to a fixation post distally.
The traditional fixation techniques suffer from a number of drawbacks and limitations. For example, the interference screw has a sharp point and may damage the bone during insertion. Also, the screw threads may cut the bone while being threaded into the bone to stabilize the graft. Damage caused by insertion of the interference screw may lead to later problems with the bone. Securing the bone graft with wires likewise suffers from drawbacks because the wires protrude beyond the trough formed in the cortex.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there is a need for an assembly which may be readily installed for stabilizing a bone-tendon-bone graft into the surrounding bone, while also minimizing the possibility of the bone becoming damaged during insertion. There is likewise a need for an assembly holder which is easy to manipulate, securely grasps the assembly in order to facilitate manipulation of the assembly, and readily seizes the assembly in order to permit its removal if required. The disclosed invention is just such an assembly and assembly holder and achieves the advantages and overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art through use of an expansible plug. The expansible plug of the invention has a gently rounded insertion end, no protrusions during insertion, and yet may be expanded by and secured to a removable holder.